Anti-union billboards put up near Alabama's Mercedes-Benz auto plant

View full sizeMercedes-Benz employees opposed to the United Auto Workers union campaign at the automaker's Tuscaloosa County plant have put their message on nearby billboards along Interstate 20/59. (Dawn Kent Azok/dazok@al.com)

VANCE, Alabama -- The battle over a labor union at the
Mercedes-Benz auto plant in Tuscaloosa County has hit the highway.

One billboard is on the eastbound side, near Exit 79. It reads: Just say NO to the UAW. Because Alabama is the home of winners, not losers.

Another billboard is on the westbound side of the interstate, near Exit 100. Its message is: Don't let the UAW turn Alabama into the next Detroit.

Employees backing the anti-union effort also have set up a website: uawno.org.

"I want Mercedes to be here when I retire," said Sonny Hawthorne, a 16-year Mercedes employee who is involved in the effort.

If the union is voted in, that future is in doubt, he said. He and others fear the automaker will move its operations elsewhere.

"It might not happen right away, but 10 to 15 years down the road, with the UAW's track record, it's going to wind up messing things up," he said.

Hawthorne said the group put its message on signs and banners around the plant, but they were torn down by union supporters.

So the group turned to the billboards, which went up Monday and were paid for by donations from employees opposed to the UAW, Hawthorne said. They are paying for them on a month-to-month basis, and they will stay up until the money runs out.

He said he believes the UAW campaign has hit a wall, with fewer employees signing the cards needed to call for a vote on the union.

Attempts to reach UAW organizers were unsuccessful. They have previously declined to talk about the status of the campaign.

Employees who support the UAW say they want a voice, citing growing frustration with the increasing use of temporary workers at the plant, as well as uneven enforcement of rules and policies that results in inconsistent evaluations and favoritism in promotions.